Chris Grainger: 1:10

Welcome to the Lion Within Us, a podcast serving Christian men who are hungry to be the leaders God intends you to be. I'm your host, chris Granger. Let's jump in. All right, fellas, this is your spiritual kickoff episode. Let's get into it, okay. So scripture of the week. This week is the book of 2 Timothy, the first chapter, the fifth verse. It says For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you which first dwelled in your grandmother, lois, and your mother, eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well. I love that verse. How about let's just get right into it, ok? So again, spiritual kickoff, what it's all about. Simplify and apply God's word to our life. And if you enjoy these we know lots of you guys do.

Chris Grainger: 1:54

Monday through Friday, we do a modified version of the spiritual kickoff in our Lion Within Us community. It's all completely free. We just love to give this away. It's exclusive content. We don't post anywhere else. It doesn't go on YouTube or any of that other junk. We stay right there within the Lion Within Us. So head over right now to thelionwithinus and start your daily spiritual kickoff for free. If you can't make the live feed, it's all good. We post those videos there every day. So their money through Friday. You'll get that little boost you need and I trust me, it's so much better than anything you're going to find at Starbucks, I promise.

Chris Grainger: 2:28

All right, so let's get into our scripture. So where is the book of 2 Timothy? Well, if I'm going to be a joke, kind of a dad joke, well, that's before, right after 1 Timothy, of course, but seriously, it's in your New Testament, towards the back, right before the book of Titus, you'll find Timothy. Okay, two books. And this week we're going to be talking all about parenting, all about being kids and raising kids and trying not to go crazy raising kids. So I actually wrote a Devo for the Bible app and it's done very well, and I said you know what? This is a message that we need to share with our podcast listeners as well, because hopefully they'll find some encouragement in it.

Chris Grainger: 3:08

So when we look at this verse, something really struck me when I think through the first, probably decade of my life being a father. Okay, I unknowingly outsourced the role of the spiritual leader. I did, I didn't even realize it at the time Because in my mind, you know, I was doing what I was supposed to do. I was, I didn't even realize it at the time because in my mind, you know, I was doing what I was supposed to do. I was taking my family to church pretty regularly and I just assumed that checking that you know that box on every Sunday, that was my job. I fulfilled my duty to lead my family in the faith. But, man, that was some flawed mindset. When I look back and I really think about it now. And our children's pastor, man, that dude was incredible. Shout out to Scott, you were awesome, bro. But even on the best weeks my kids only saw him one, two, maybe three hours most. So that's a whole lot of time in the week when someone else was setting the example. And then that's when it hit me that someone was me, bro. That hits hard.

Chris Grainger: 4:22

And I, for the longest time, I bought into the lie that spiritual leadership was reserved for these quote unquote qualified people. You know what I'm talking about Guys who go to seminary, the full time missionaries, the men with these advanced theology degrees. And I was just a regular dad. I was trying to juggle life, trying to keep my head above water, trying to keep my head above water, and so there was no way right that I was a possible candidate for leading anyone spiritually At least that's what I told myself. And God had other plans, though, because the conviction he started putting in my life was real, and he started to reveal this small truth to me. And that small truth was if I would just be willing to take small, consistent steps of obedience, he's going to meet me. He's going to meet me, and then so I did. I started taking my own discipleship journey steps, and my kids started noticing, and I discovered, by taking these steps, the real root of my hesitation.

Chris Grainger: 5:39

To start with, it was fear. I was afraid that my kids would see how much I didn't know about the Bible, or worse, I was afraid how much they would see how little of it I was actually living out, because there was a disconnect from who I was on Sunday and who I was the rest of the week and man. That was very uncomfortable to deal with and to confront, and I'm telling you, I see it more and more and more and more people I talk to. That's why so many kids raised in Christian homes Unfortunately, we'll walk away from the faith one day Because they hear the grace preached on Sunday, right, but they witness hypocrisy the rest of the week and one day they start thinking well, it was never real to start with. You can't blame them, and I'll tell you that realization for me is a wake-up call, and hopefully it is for you, and I couldn't pass the buck any longer.

Chris Grainger: 6:41

I had to stop pretending. I had to start leading, even though it was very imperfect, it wasn't always right, but it was sincere, and it started clunky, y'all Clunky, because praying out loud was as scary to me as public speaking Right, and I doubted myself a lot. Now I was just reminded that God doesn't call to qualify, he qualifies to call. And so from there I just started taking these little, small steps of obedience, starting to pray together, starting to read these little devotions together. Naturally, there would become questions. They would ask that I didn't know, I didn't have an answer. So what do we do? You research it, you figure it out, and then, over time, something starts to change. You start seeing their faith take root, as mine was growing alongside it and maybe you're dead out there and you're listening right now and you start to break out in a sweat Around the thought of leading your family spiritually.

Chris Grainger: 7:54

I just want you to know, brother, you can do this. You can, not because you're perfect, because nobody is, but because God is faithful, he's faithful, he doesn't need your perfection is. But because God is faithful, he's faithful. He doesn't need your perfection, bro, he just needs your obedience. And your kids don't need a spiritual superhero. They need a dad who's sincere, who is present and who is willing to grow. So, yeah, the church is a partner. Don't misinterpret what I'm saying. But you are the leader. You are the leader. If you take this step with humility and courage, you're giving your chance for your faith to become a living legacy, and that could echo for generations, bro. So I just encourage you to keep leaning into it, just like we see here in the second Timothy verse.

Chris Grainger: 8:46

I mean, look, look how, how it's all tied to the steps. Now, in this case it was for the matriarch side of the family, but I'm sure it's in you as well. It's in you, fellas. The question you got to ask yourself it really ask yourself is who truly leads the spiritual direction of your home right now? Because I'm going to tell you, if the answer is anybody outside, a man in the mirror. We got some work to do doesn't mean you're bad, just means we got some work to do, and that's what we're trying to do with you, trying to hopefully help you see this week, on the episodes of the Lion Within Us, is you can do this, brother. I'm just a guy raising kids too, so I'm trying to come alongside and help you along the way.

Chris Grainger: 9:38

And look, the greatest guide for raising kids is the Bible period, and the greatest way to understand the Bible is the Holy Spirit, and if you don't have the Holy Spirit, then you're missing an opportunity to learn. So that starts by surrendering your life to the Lordship of Jesus. And if you've never done that before and you're listening to the line, because this is something about kids popped up and you were checking it out hey, I want to encourage you. Take some time. Think about what God's trying to show you right now. Recognize that he had a perfect design. Recognize that Jesus is the one and only true path to salvation. He's it. There's no other way. Unfortunately, oprah was wrong. And then also recognize that you need a Savior. You don't need someone to help make you better. You need someone to do for you what you can't do for yourself, and that's exactly what Jesus offers us. So if you've never surrendered your life to the Lordship of Christ and you're listening to the line right now and you're excited. Maybe you've got some kids at the house and you're trying to figure your stuff out.

Chris Grainger: 10:47

Buddy, the best thing, by far the best advice I can give you is to stop doing it your way and start doing it His. If you're going to do it His, you have to follow Him. So I'd love to pray with you. I'd love to just invite you him. So I'd love to pray with you. I'd love to just invite you. If you haven't surrendered your life to Christ, just do it right now.

Chris Grainger: 11:08

So, father, just thank you so much for this chance just to share your word and as well as the good news with people out there listening. So I just pray, father, that during this time for that one listener who is struggling, that they recognize their need for a Savior, they recognize that you are it, and I pray you just put your hand on them, guide them, direct them, give them the peace that passes all understanding and then, lord, just be with them as they begin to walk their personal discipleship journey. It's in your name we pray, amen, all right, so look, if you just surrendered your life to Christ, I want to hear from you, chris, at thelinewithinus, shoot me an email. I want to hook you up with some free stuff as well as just give you some encouragement along the way. Just a touchdown so happy for you and this week again digging into the whole idea of raising kids. What does that look like? Why is that important? So you head over to thelionwithinus, because we have all of our devotions, all our resources are there. Thelionwithinus is our website. You can check all that stuff out.

Chris Grainger: 12:10

The Daily Spiritual Kickoff. Again, if you like stuff like this, monday through Friday Monday through Friday, we do it in our community or our community. Just join that directly. It's a great way to connect, have a bunch of fellowship. But if you're looking for that true discipleship iron, sharpening iron, our leadership masterminds is where it's at fellas, hands down, hands down, so proud and just excited for how that is helping men. One thing that's missing is you, bro. So go check it out. Let me know if you have any questions. Again, thealignwithinus is where you found all that. So come back on Wednesday Looking forward to unpacking this idea further as we just try to help you be the leader of your family that God intends you to be. So get out there, have a great day.

Chris Grainger: 12:52

We keep unleashing the lion within.

Chris Grainger: 12:57

I've got something big to share.

Chris Grainger: 12:59

We're making a major shift because we know the battle is real and it's time more men had access to the support they need.

Chris Grainger: 13:06

For too long, guys have been trying to carry the weight alone pressure at work, tension at home, wounds from the past in a world that demands strength but offers no place to rest. We see it, we've lived it, and that's exactly why we built our community. It's a stronghold, a place where warriors can find rest, truth and a band of brothers standing beside them. And starting now, we're making it easier than ever to step in. We've lowered the barrier to just $15.99 a month. That means, for less than the cost of a drive-thru lunch, you can join a brotherhood that's centered on Christ and built for growth. Inside you'll find access to our daily spiritual kickoffs every Monday through Friday, our Lion Lunches, our Bible Studies, our Friday Forge Gatherings all that and so much more. Every man needs a stronghold and you don't have to fight alone. If you've been waiting for the right time to jump in, this is it. Go to thelionwithinus and join the community and see for yourself what happens when iron truly sharpens iron.